Music streaming services

Jelster

Jelster

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I have, for long time, resisted the urge to subscribe to a music streaming service, however having managing to get over the "I own the hardcopy" bit of the puzzle, I'm now willing to relent.

I've decided on a streamer for my hifi, now I need to decide on a streaming provider. Our house is almost all Apple, 2 iPads, 3 iPhones, an iMac & 2 Mac laptops, so one would think that Apple Music was a no brainer. However, Apple Music is not "built in" to many of the streaming devices, so I would have to stream from my iPhone/iPad via "Air Play" to the streamer. Do any of you guys do this and is it any hassle to do it that way?

If not Apple, then which other service (other than Spotify) should I look at? Not keen on the sound quality of Spotify.
 
Tidal seems well thought of by the 'hi fi' community.
 
Tidal is good for HIFI but suffers from app wobbles.
Do a free trial also look at Qobuz
 
I'm on Spotify but I'm running the free trial of Tidal alongside. I've queued up the same tracks on both and did some comparisons - Honestly, they both sound very similar in general, I'd give the slight edge to Tidal in some cases where the sound was less 'fatiguing' to the ears where tracks are maybe a little higher on the treble. I have tried both using my Q45 headset, Sony Ult wear [which are superb for bassier tunes] and my Motion x600 BT/AUX speaker [best BT speaker I've owned to date, nice punchy, warm sound] Certainly not audiophile gear though, maybe you'll notice more of a difference using high end equip? But for me, not enough to suggest one over the other. I have everything set to the highest quality on Tidal.
 
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Tidal or Qobuz for sound quality on a decent system.
 
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Delphin said:
Tidal or Qobuz for sound quality on a decent system.
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Yup. You may well be able to get a free months trial of both.
I use tidal as it seemed to have a better catalogue back when I first started streaming, and then they dropped their prices..!
I do have a rather decent system and the difference in sound quality is very obvious when compared to Spotify even too my old ears.
 
Thanks for all the feedback, I have to admit, Qobuz was my preferred option if I don't go down the Apple route.

Has anybody here used Apple Music to a Hifi streaming device?
 
Jelster said:
Thanks for all the feedback, I have to admit, Qobuz was my preferred option if I don't go down the Apple route.

Has anybody here used Apple Music to a Hifi streaming device?
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A musician friend of mine uses apple music and I have to say that when played through my hifi it is certainly a lower quality, although he thinks it is fine via his. It could be all sorts of things such as streaming via his phone that causes this, but it's very much a mid-fit sound, slightly muffled and recessed.
To clarify without willy-waving I do have a system that costs a lot more than his.
 
If you're using Apple Music to Air Play to your streaming device, you're limited to the quality of the DAC in an iPhone. Which means a maximum of 24-bit/48kHz and not the Hi-Res 24-bit/192 kHz available by a streamer with built-in tidal support. A modern network streamer is likely to have a much better quality DAC than one in a iPhone.
 
Thanks guys, that's the sort of feedback I wanted to hear. (y)
 
Delphin said:
If you're using Apple Music to Air Play to your streaming device, you're limited to the quality of the DAC in an iPhone. Which means a maximum of 24-bit/48kHz and not the Hi-Res 24-bit/192 kHz available by a streamer with built-in tidal support. A modern network streamer is likely to have a much better quality DAC than one in a iPhone.
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Absolutely. There are a million cheap dacs that will better the one in your phone - many portable that you can plug into your phone despite apple making everything difficult by having no 3.5mm headphone socket or for use in the house (ie mains powered) Topping make a whole range but again, pick your budget, maybe use amazon's returns policy to see what difference is worth the cost in your system and to your ears and budget.
Ifi are another brand that make a range of dacs worth looking at.
 
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